WORLD

US and EU lift sanctions against Iran after landmark nuclear pact

AzerTAg.az

America and Europe have lifted sanctions against Iran after the United Nations nuclear agency confirmed that the Islamic republic had met all its commitments under a breakthrough deal, according to Belfast Telegraph.

The move crowns years of US-led efforts to curb Iran's ability to make atomic weapons and for Iran, it lifts Western economic sanctions that have been in place for years, unlocking access to 100 billion dollars (£70.4bn) in frozen assets and unleashing new opportunities for its battered economy.

US secretary of state John Kerry and top diplomats in Iran and the European Union hailed the accord, reached after years of setbacks and a decade after the start of international diplomacy aimed at reducing the possibility that Tehran could turn its nuclear programmes to weapons making.

“Today marks the first day of a safer world,” Mr Kerry declared in Vienna, Austria. “This evening we are really reminded once again of diplomacy's power to tackle significant challenges.”

Mr Kerry also linked the trust built between Iran and the United States over the past two years of talks to the release by Iran on Saturday of four Americans who also hold Iranian nationality.

“Thanks to years of hard work and committed dialogue,” he said, “we have made vital breakthroughs related to both the nuclear negotiations and a separate long-term diplomatic effort” that led to the freeing of the Americans.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement also read in Farsi by Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif, that the accord “demonstrates that with political will, perseverance, and through multilateral diplomacy we can solve the most difficult issues and find practical solutions that are effectively implemented”.

In Washington, US president Barack Obama signed executive orders lifting economic sanctions on Iran, while Mr Kerry confirmed that the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency could verify that “Iran has fully implemented its required commitments”.